Are you falling behind on your English lessons? I’ll help you fall in line with the rest of us with this lesson on phrasal verbs using the verb ‘fall’. You will know what it means when plans fall through, or when one of your friends falls for a trick or a girl.

Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I’m Adam. In today’s lesson, we’re going to look at phrasal verbs again. I know everybody likes these. I’ve heard all the comments. So again, what are phrasal verbs? Phrasal verbs are a combination of a verb and a preposition that together have a very different meaning than the two words by themselves. Today’s phrasal verbs are going to be with the verb “fall”. “Fall apart”, “fall out”, “fall behind”, “fall for”, “fall through”, “fall in”, “fall in with”, “fall back”, “fall back on”. Different meanings to “in” and “in with”, “back, and “back on”. So let’s start.

“Fall apart” — two meanings we’re going to look at today. The first one is, basically, come apart or disintegrate or break off. So if any of you have ever cooked ribs — do you like ribs? You know, like, big stack of ribs. Boil them. Put them on the barbecue. Cook them really, really well. Then, the meat just falls apart, just falls off the bone. Very, very delicious. Another meaning of “fall apart” is to have a nervous breakdown. Excuse me. A “nervous breakdown” would be — when someone has a “nervous breakdown” — I’m sorry — we say they have “fallen apart”. They have lost control of themselves emotionally. So an example. When does a person fall apart? For example, if I had a girlfriend for a very, very long time, and one day she comes home and she says, “Bye. I’m leaving.” Maybe I’ll go crazy. I’ll fall apart. I won’t be able to work. I won’t be able to sleep. I won’t be able to do anything. That’s not necessarily the way things would happen, but for some people, that’s how it happens. They just fall apart.

Okay. “Fall out” — so I’m walking down the street. I’m happy. I’m bouncing around. Something falls out of my pocket. Basically, it comes out and falls to the ground. That’s the very basic term, “fall out”. Another meaning for “fall out” is when you have a fight or a quarrel with someone. You talk about something; you get into a disagreement; you fight; and then, you don’t speak to each other anymore. So basically, you had a “falling out” — if you want the noun of it. A “falling out”, a fight. Okay? So a “falling out”, a fight. Another meaning — a third meaning — is basically consequences. For example, in a war, there’s a big bomb dropped somewhere, and then all the fall out — all the things that fell out — then, all the results. “The fall out for this attack was that many people were left homeless or that many people were killed or that the fight extended.” So the “fall out” means the result or the consequence of something that happened, usually something bad. And then, the consequences, of course, are also bad.

“Fall behind” — again, more than one meaning. The first meaning of “fall behind” means to be a little bit behind. All my friends are walking. I’m walking with my friends. They’re walking fast, and I start to fall behind. So another word is “lag”. “Lag” means to be behind, not keep pace with. We also use this when we talk about debts. Like, for example, you have to pay bills. Every month, the phone company sends you a bill. Then you pay it and you pay it. But one month, you missed. So then, the next month, you have to pay the last month’s bill and this month’s bill. But you don’t have enough money, so you let a little bit more go. Now, you’re starting to fall behind on your payments. Eventually, the bank will come and take your phone, take your car, take your puppy — whatever you have that’s worth any money. That’s basically “fall behind”. Of course, if I drop this here, it will fall behind me. But that’s too simple.

“Fall for” — a couple of interesting meanings. “Fall for” — one, when you “fall for something” or “fall for someone” means you basically fall in love. Okay? I went to the bar. I met this girl. I just “fell for” her right then and there. I fell in love. I lost control. I wanted this person. But then, her friend came and told me that for $50, he will give me her phone number. So I gave him $50, and he ran away. I “fell for” his trick. Okay? So “fall for” means believe something that is not true. Okay? If you are that type of person, you are gullible. I think I spelled that right. I’ll have to check that later. “Fall for” means believe in a trick or believe in something that is not true, or fall in love.

“Fall through” — “fall through” means when you have a plan or you try to do something, but then at the end, it just didn’t work. Your attempt failed, so it “fell through”.